Child 1

I work with six different first graders one-on-one, providing tutoring and reading support for fifteen minutes a day. The first child I see every day has a lazy eye and a bad attitude. I'm not sure if they are related or not, but it seems likely.

He reads at a mid-K level (although, I'm not sure if I agree with that since he reads both level 2 books and 5 books with the same accuracy). That means that we spend a lot of time working on the alphabet sounds and simple high frequency words (is, was, the).

In addition to practicing high frequency words, we read a new book every day. Most of the time it is a pattern book (The red balloon is going up. The blue balloon is going up. And so on.). Sometimes I find books that aren't quite as obvious, but then it's really hard to get through.

I'm not sure what to do to motivate this child - maybe something as simple as a sticker any time he at least tries to figure out a new word? I'm helping him with strategies to figure out words (re-read, look for parts you know, does that make sense or look right?), but it doesn't make it easier on either of us.

We'll see how he grows in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have suggestions, throw them at me!